Method of making shoes



Dec. 30, 1941. F. L. AYERS,- I METHOD OF MAKING SHOES FiledAug. 25, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 30, 1941. F. AYERS METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed Aug. 25, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jzw/ZW i 72M,

Patented Dec. 30, 1941 UNITED STATES PATEN'l" OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING snoas Fred L. Ayers, Water-town, Mass.,. assignor of one-half to Newton Elkin Application August 25, 1936, Serial No. 226,641

2 Claims.

broken away of a shoe constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a piece of interlocking strip material.

Figures 3, 4 and 6 are detail sections on the correspondingly numered section lines of Figure 1.

Figure is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing the strip of Figure'2 applied.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the manner of removing a worn outersole for repair of the shoe.

Figure 8 is a lateral section through the lower portion of a shoe in inverted position and showing a modified construction.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary section simiar to a portion of Figure 8, but showing a further modification.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 3, but showing a modification.

Figure 11 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating a manner of attaching the strip of Figure 2 to both the lasted shoe and the sole.

Figure 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of the strip guide showing a different manner of activating the cement on the strip of Figure 2.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of a spring heel shoe constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figures 14 and 15 are detaiLsections showing a Referring first to Figures 1 to 6, inclusive, at I is shown a last to the sole face of which is secured an innersole 2, the edge portion of which is formed with upper and lower lips 3 and ,which may be formed by slitting the edge of the sole inwardly, as shown, or as illustrated in my patent hereinbeforementioned, by building up an innersole from separate layers. The upper materials, herein shown as the upper 5 and a lining 6, are lasted over and secured to the lower lip 4 as by stitching 1, the upper and liningmaterials being outwardly turned to form an outwardly extend-' ing and outwardly tapered marginal fin 8. Another method is shown in Figure 10 where the upper materials aresecured to the edge portion of a very light weight innersole 2a as by stitching This dishes the'T'margins which are then trimmed off as at a:r to form the tapered fin.

Next a flat strip 10 is secured as by permanent cement to the lower face of the innersole, this strip 18 extending outwardly beyond the outer edge of the fin 8 as shown in Figure 4. v

A locking strip ll, shown detached in Figure 2 and provided with a beveled face [2 on its flesh side where it is made of leather, this bevel being positioned to engage with the upper outwardly inclined is :2 of the fin 8 and to cover the exposed stitching i, is then conformed to the contour of the shoe and is cemented in position to the fin I, to the exposed stitching and to the top face of the strip I0 which extends outwardly of the fin.

The cementing of the locking strip' II in position, and also the securement of the locking strip II and the strip 10 to an outersole member It, as shown in Figure 6, may be accomp ished simultaneously. For example, as shown in Figure 11, the strip II, which has been pre-treated with permanent cement,v is fed upwardly through a guide opening It in a work table l3 of a stitchdown sewing machine so as to be presented into the groove formed by the top face of the strip 10, the top face of the fin 8 and the shoe upper above the line of lasting stitches, this strip being positioned above the slot 16 of the table l3 through which the curved needle I! and awl 18 pass dur-, ing the stitching operation. The presser foot I! I clamps the outersole, fin, and strip ll-together. Just before the strip ll reaches its final position the cement with which it was pre-treated is activated by a suitab'e solvent, so that the cementing of the strip 1 l to the top face of the fin 8 and between the table and the presser foot materially increases the bonding effect between these parts, and the stitching put in while the parts are so clamped holds them in clamped position during setting of the cement. This simultaneous cementing and stitching is thus of great importance.

In Figure 11 the means for activating the cement on the locking strip is shown as comprising a felt wheel 20 with which the upper face of the locking strip contacts as it passes over a supporting roll 2|, this felt wheel being maintained wet with a cement solvent which may be supplied thereto at the necessary rate, as through a pipe In Figure 12 is shown a modification in which the table 13 has a channel 25 in its upper face which communicates through a hole 26 with the interior of the slot through which the locking strip passes. A felt strip 21 is seated in this channel 25 and extends through the hole 26 where it may contact with the locking strip H, and this felt strip is maintained wet with the cement solvent which may be supplied thereto through a pipe 28 into which one end of the felt may extend. The top face of this felt strip also contacts with the lasted shoe fin and may serve to activate this part which also maybe pretreated with the cement. In case of certain types of cements, activation by other than solvents might be necessary, as, for example, by heat, in which case the mechanism would have to be designed accordingly. v

The two strips 10 and II. secured to the top and bottom faces of the fin 8 form a member which interlocks with the lasted shoe, this member in its turn being secured to the outersole. Where the securement to the outersole is by stitching, as at 30 in Figure 6, and without permanent cement, the outersole may be removed for repair by merely cutting through the threads 30 as shown in Figure '7, this releasing the outersole from the lasted shoe and leaving with the lasted shoe the member interlocked therewith to which may be stitched a new outersole.

The strip I forms in essence a sole member, and if desired, there may be substituted therefor a mid-sole 35 as shown in Figure 8, this mid-sole extending for the full width of the outersole, its innerportion forming a filler between the inner sole and the outersole. Where the marginal strip I0 is employed instead of a mid-sole, the outersole may have its margin cut away as shown at 36 in Figure 6, the central portion of the outersole then serving as an integral filler directly contacting with the innersole. Where a mid-sole is employed, the top face of the outersole is flat from edge to edge.

In case it is desired to use the strip ill in place of a mid-sole and to use an outersole of uniform thickness throughout, a filler 38 of any suitable type may be placed between the inner margins of the strip ID in place of the thicker intermediate portion of the outersole illustrated in Figure 6. When the strip [0 is used the sole members may be so compacted together that no filler is necessary, particularly when a last with a "regular round bottom" is employed.

To facilitate the attachment of the strip when such a strip is employed, it may be held in its properly conformed condition by securing it to a plate 40 as shown in Figure 16, this plate being provided with prongs 4| on which the strip l0 may be impaled. This strip so secured to the plate may then be presented to the lasted shoe,

the cement being applied to the upper face of the strip l0 as shown in Figure 1'7. By forming this plate somewhat smaller than the over-all dimensions of the sole of the shoe, so that the strip ll extends therebeyond, the plate may act as a guide to facilitate the attachment of the locking strip II as it is stitched in position by the outersole stitching 42 shown in Figure 18, or the plate may be removed before the stitching, if desired. The plate 40 may then be removed, if it has not been already, and the outersole 44 cemented or otherwise secured as shown in Figure 19. If desired, and as shown in Figure 20, the strip Ill may be secured as by anon-permanent cement to the outersole 44 instead of to a plate such as 40 and be presented, together with the outersole, to the lasted shoe to which it may be attached in. turn by permanent cement. The outersole stitching may then be placed as shown at 30 in Figure 21, either simultaneously with the application of the locking strip II as shown in Figure 10, or after the securement of this locking strip, as desired. The strip l0 may be beveled, or the pressure between the parts may condense it so that no filler between the inner and outersoles is required.

Where a close edge shoe is desired. the strip It may be narrow and cemented to the top face of the lasted shoe fin, and then its lower face and the lower face of the fin may be cemented directly to the outersole as shown in Figure 14 without the interposition of the strip H) or a mid-sole.

Where the method of this invention is to be applied in the making of spring heel shoes as shown in Figure 13, the locking strip H is carried entirely around the periphery of the shoe and the securing of the outersole, including the spring heel, may be by stitching or other suitable means, and if desired the strip H may be cemented in position to the lasted shoe fin and stitched to the outersole simultaneously, as previously described.

From the foregoing description of this invention and structures which may be produced by its employment, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications might be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a shoe, which comprises lasting the shoe with its upper margins secured to an innersole and outwardly turned to form an outwardly projecting marginal fin, se-

- curing a marginal strip fiat against said inner sole and underlying and projecting outwardly beyond said fin, placing an outersole in position .ber to the lower face of said innersole by permanent cement. and then progressively applying a solvent to a face of a strip pro-coated with cement, conforming and securing said strip at said face to said fin and exposed stitches by said cement, and simultaneously stitching said strip to an outersole underlying said inncrsole and fin.

FRED L. AYERS. 

